Archery bow arrow rest accessory



May 9, 1967 F. B. BEAR ARCHERY BOW ARROW REST ACCESSORY Filed Feb. 2,1965 1N VENTOR. 6% 15 Zizd/ United States Patent Gfiice 3,318,298Patented May ,9, 1967 3,318,298 ARCHERY BOW ARROW REST ACCESSGRY Fred B.Bear, Grayling, Mich, assignor to Bear Archery Company, Grayling, Mich,a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 429,823 Claims.(Cl. 124-44) This invention relates generally to bow accessories andmore particularly to an attachment for bows comprising means having anadjustable arrow plate as well as a replaceable arrow rest.

Numerous efforts have been made in the past to provide suitable meansfor accurately supporting and guiding the shaft of an arrow until suchtime as it leaves the bow on its way to the target. Suitable means forsteadily supporting the weight of the arrow are highly desirable to thearcher. Formerly, various devices comprising either fleXible elementssuch as bristles or feathers, or rigid devices such as balls or arcuateelements have been utilized for an arrow rest. In most cases thesedevices are supplied as a permanent attachment to the bow at the time ofpurchase or, if offered as an accessory, become a permanent part of thebow once installed. This has been a decided disadvantage since everyarcher has his own personal desire for a specific type of arrow rest andwould hesitate to purchase a bow, which he may otherwise desire, if hefinds the arrow rest supplied therewith not to his liking.

The foregoing is also true with respect to the numerous variations ofarrow plates available with different bows. An arrow plate is designedto laterally position the shaft of the arrow with respect to the archersline of sight and quite obviously it would be highly desirable toprovide means for laterally adjusting the position of an arrow platewith respect to said line of sight so as to accommodate different typesand sizes of arrows to the shooting characteristics of differentarchers. This feature of adjustability is useful not only as the archerchanges from one set of arrows to another, but also provides ready meansfor selecting the best positioning of the arrow shaft when any oneparticular archer initially begins to shoot with a matched set ofarrows.

The present invention overcomes the primary objection to the prior artdevices by providing a bow accessory comprising a cover plate easilyremovable from the bow and including means therewith for supporting anadjustable arrow plate as well as for removably supporting any one ofnumerous types of arrow rests according to the desires of the individualarcher.

The use of a bow sight is becoming increasingly popular among archersand the subject invention includes means readily adaptable to theinclusion of suitable bow sights of well known design in combinationwith the subject arrow plate and rests.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide a bow accessory including a removable cover plate having anadjustable arrow plate and a removable arrow rest.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bow accessoryincluding means for removably supporting a variety of types of arrowrests.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a bow accessoryincluding a mounting plate having an adjustable arrow plate andremovable arrow rests supported therein and including adjustable sightmeans.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

The preferred and practical embodiments of the invention are shown inthe accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of the center section of a bowincluding the sight bar and arrow plate and rest according to thesubject invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial perspective view of the center section of a bowand illustrates the cover plate and its associated elements in explodedrelationship to the bow section;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE1 and includes an arrow shaft shown in alternate positions;

FIGURE 4 is a partial rear elevation of the cover plate taken along theline 4-4 of FIGURE 3 with the arrow rest omitted to more clearlyillustrate the recesses in the rear of the cover plate;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE4;

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are perspective views of various types of arrow restswhich may be used in conjunction with the cover plate of the invention.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts through theseveral figures of the drawings.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen fromFIGURES 1 and 2 that the invention is shown as applied to a bow sectionB having a coplanar mounting surface 1 extending upwardly a substantialdistance from the horizontal ledge 2 forming the bottom of an open sightwindow. The preceding construction will be found to exist more or lessin the majority of the bow sections now being marketed and in manyinstances the horizontal ledge 2 is the sole means providing for anarrow rest while the vertically disposed surface 1 acts as the arrowplate. This arrangement alone provides for only one positioning of thearrow shaft, namely the point of intersection between the verticalsurface 1 and the horizontal ledge 2.

The present invention proposes means for removably mounting anadjustable arrow plate and a replaceable arrow rest upon the coplanarmounting surface 1 of the bow section. This mounting means comprises aplate or bar, generally designated 3, which is of substantiallyrectangular shape and of an overall length or height no greater than theheight of the vertical coplanar mounting surface 1.

The 'bar 3 may be modified to provide a sighting bar 4 as illustrated inFIGURE 1. In this instance a vertical slot 5 is provided in the bar 4for the reception of any suitable type of adjustable sight assembly 6therein. The cover plate 7, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, comprises anelement preferably having the same overall dimensions as the sight bar 4but without the vertical slot 5 in order to permit interchangeabilitybetween the two types of bars 3.

Both of the mounting plates or bars 3 are adapted to be flushly mountedwithin the coplanar surface 1 of the bow section and to be removablysecured thereto by means of any suitable attaching means such as themounting screws 8. A recess 9 is provided in the face of the mountingsurface 1 corresponding in dimension to the mounting plate or bar 3which recess, as will be seen from FIGURE 2, provides a supportingsurface 10 against which the rear face 311 of the mounting plate or bar3 will abut. When it is desired to use the sight bar 4 in combinationwith the present invention it is necessary to provide a routed sightgroove 11 medially disposed between the mounting surfaces 10 in therecess 9 and extending substantially the vertical height of the sightbar 4 beneath the slot 5 in order to accommodate that portion of thesight assembly 6 projecting from the rear of the sight bar 4. Even whenthe use of the sight bar 4 is not contemplated it is necessary toprovide a groove or additional recess in at least the lowermost portionof the recess 9 for purposes which will become obvious hereinafter.

The arrangement of the mounting of the arrow plate and arrow restsforming the present invention is identical regardless of which form ofmounting plate or bar 3 is used. A transverse or horizontal cutout 12 isformed through the lower portion of the bar 3 immediately adjacent thehorizontal ledge 2 of the bow section. As will be most clearly seen fromFIGURE 4, the cutout portion 12 includes a pair of oppositely disposedside walls 13 parallel to one another and joined at their ends bysemi-circular end walls 14. The rear surface 3 2 of the plate is formedwith a pair of supporting ear recesses 15, the radius of which isgreater than the radius of the aforementioned semi-circular end walls 14although the center point for both of these sets of radii is identical.The depth of the recesses 15 is preferably approximately one-half thethickness of the plate 3.

Disposed immediately above the uppermost side wall 13 of the cutout 12is a tapped opening 16 adapted to receive the arrow plate 17. Suitablethreads are provided on the exterior of the circular arrow plate 17mating with the tapped portion of the opening 16 whereby it will be seenthat rotation of the arrow plate 17 will laterally displace the contactface 18 of the arrow plate as clearly pointed out in FIGURE 3. In orderto permit rotation of the arrow plate ,17 to provide the aforementionedlateral adjustment, a suitable tool-receiving recess 19 is formed in thecenter of the contact face 18. The recess 19 may be of any suitableshape such as hexagonal for the reception of an Allen wrench.

The reason will now be apparent for providing the routed groove 11 atleast in the area of the lower portion of the recess 9, even when usingthe cover plate 7. When the arrow plate 17 is rotated to its fullyretracted position whereupon the contact face 18 thereof will be flushwith the outer surface of the cover plate 7, it will be seen that theinner end of the arrow plate will be projected into the groove 11between the oppositely disposed supporting surfaces 10 as evidenced bythe broken line position of the arrow plate in FIG- URE 3.

The provision of the horizontal cutout portion 12 adjacent the loweredge of the mounting plate or bar permits the use of any one of severaltypes of arrow rests such as those shown in FIGURES 68. FIGURE 6illustrates a ramp-type arrow rest generally designated 20 which may beformed of any suitable material such as plastic. Preferably one of theso-called self-lubricating types of plastic should be used such as nylonto reduce to a minimum the coefficient of friction between the arrowshaft and the surface thereof.

A feather arrow rest generally designated 21 is disclosed in FIGURE 7and comprises a plurality of trimmed feathers disposed at an inclinedangle with the free endsthereof pointing towards the direction of travelof the arrow.

FIGURE 8 illustrates a bristle arrow rest generally designated 23 andincludes a plurality of individual tufts of bristles 24 mounted at rightangles to the face of the mounting plate or bar 3.

The three types of arrow rests disclosed in FIG- URES 6-8 are among themost popular forms preferred by archers, however, it will be understoodthat any suitable material may be utilized in forming various otherforms of arrow rests so long as suitable mounting or supporting meanstherefor are provided in accordance with the present invention, as willbe described immediately hereinafter.

The ramp-type arrow rest 20 of FIGURE 6 is shown in connection with thebow section and mounting plate or bar 3 illustrated in FIGURES 1-3. Theramp-type arrow rest includes a top deck 25 of substantially triangularshape and disposed in a plane horizontal with respect to the mountingplate 3. A common feature in all the various embodiments of the arrowrest is that the supporting base to which the various arrow supportingelements are attached is of a common construction. This constructionincludes a center mounting section 26 having a length and width equal tothe length and width of the horizontal cutout portion 12 formed in themounting plate or bar 3. In fact for purposes of stability, it isimportant that the periphery of the center mounting sections 26 besubstantially congruent with the periphery of the cutout portion 12,there being only enough clearance between the two to permit readyinsertion and removal of the center mounting section into and out of thecutout portion 12 as any one of the various arrow rests are insertedfrom the rear of the mounting plate or bar 3.

Circular supporting cars 27 are disposed at opposite ends of the centermounting sections 26 and are congruent in shape with the supporting earrecesses 15 formed at opposite ends of the cutout portions 12 in themounting plates. The thickness of the circular supporting ears 27 isequal to the depth of the recesses 15 and since the rear surface of thesupporting ears 27 is coplanar with the rear surface of the mountingsection 26 it will be apparent that when the arrow rests are insertedthrough the cutout portion 12 from the rear face 3:: of the cover plate7 that the coplanar surface on the back of the arrow rest will befiushly disposed with respect to the rear face 3a.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that means have beenprovided for permitting ready replacement of any one of the arrow restssupported or mounted within a cover plate 7, it only being necessary toremove the mounting screws 8 retaining the cover plate within the recess9 formed in the mounting surface 1 of the bow section whereupon thearrow rest may be pushed out through the rear face 3a of the coverplate.

The arrow rests are securely retained in the operative position when themounting plate or bar 3 is attached to the bow section due to the factthat the ends of the circular supporting ears 27 are backed up orsupported by the lower portions of the supporting surfaces 10.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificfeatures shown, but that the means of construction herein disclosedcomprise the preferred forms of several modes of putting the inventioninto effect, and the invention is therefore plain in any of its forms ormodifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. An attachment for archery bows provided with a sight window,comprising, a mounting plate removably connected to said bow within thesight window, said plate having a horizontal cut-out portion adjacentthe lower edge thereof and a tapped opening therethrough above saidcut-out portion, a replaceable arrow rest fitted in said cut-out portionand projecting from the outer face of said plate, a threaded arrow platefitted through said tapped opening and provided with an exposed outerface disposed above said arrow rest, whereby, said arrow plate may beaxially adjusted to vary the position of the outer face thereof relativeto said arrow rest.

2. An attachment, according to claim 1, wherein the inner face of saidmounting plate is provided with a pair 'of recesses adjacent the ends ofsaid cut-out portion, and said arrow rest comprises a center mountingsection adapted to fit within said cut-out portion, and a pair ofarcuate supporting ears at the ends of said center section engageablewith said recesses.

3. An attachment, according to claim 2, wherein the depth of saidrecesses and the thickness of said ears are equal to provide a flushsurface on the inner face of said mounting plate when said arrow rest isfitted in said mounting plate.

4. An attachment for archery bows, according to claim 2, wherein saidbow is provided with a recess in said sighting window in order toflushly mount said mounting plate therein, and the inner face of saidarrow rest abuts the bottom of said recess to retain itself within saidmounting plate.

5. An attachment for archery bows, according to claim 2, wherein theouter face of said arr-ow plate is provided with an axially disposedrecess, whereby, said arrow plate maybe axially displaced by theapplication of a tool within said recess.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,120,222 2/1964Bear 3346.4X 3,225,755 12/1965 Shankl-and 124'24 X RICHARD C. PINKHAM,Primary Examiner.

W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN ATTACHMENT FOR ARCHERY BOWS PROVIDED WITH A SIGHT WINDOW,COMPRISING, A MOUNTING PLATE REMOVABLY CONNECTED TO SAID BOW WITHIN THESIGHT WINDOW, SAID PLATE HAVING A HORIZONTAL CUT-OUT PORTION ADJACENTTHE LOWER EDGE THEREOF AND A TAPPED OPENING THERETHROUGH ABOVE SAIDCUT-OUT PORTION, A REPLACEABLE ARROW REST FITTED IN SAID CUT-OUT PORTIONAND PROJECTING FROM THE OUTER FACE OF SAID PLATE, A THREADED ARROW PLATEFITTED THROUGH SAID TAPPED OPENING AND PROVIDED WITH AN EXPOSED OUTERFACE DISPOSED ABOVE SAID ARROW REST, WHEREBY, SAID ARROW PLATE MAY BEAXIALLY ADJUSTED TO VARY THE POSITION OF THE OUTER FACE THEREOF RELATIVETO SAID ARROW REST.